Through lively writing and stimulating examples, the text invites students to actively explore the field of psychology and the fundamentals of critical and scientific thinking. Invitation to Psychology presents the science of psychology according to six areas of the student's experience: Your Self, Your Body, Your Mind, Your Environment, Your Mental Health and Your Life. This unique organization engages students from the very beginning and gives them a framework for thinking about human behavior. Incorporating many of the active learning and critical thinking features from their best-selling comprehensive text --a balance of classic and contemporary research, and thorough integration of the psychology of women and men of all cultures--students will learn much to take with them.

To the Instructor. To the Student. About the Authors. 1. What Is Psychology?

The Science of Psychology. What Psychologists Do. Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology. Descriptive Studies: Establishing the Facts. Correlational Studies: Looking for Relationships. The Experiment: Hunting for Causes. Evaluating the Findings.

I. YOUR SELF.

2. Theories of Personality.

Psychodynamic Theories of Personality. The Modern Study of Personality. Genetic Influences on Personality. Environmental Influences on Personality. Cultural Influences on Personality. The Inner Experience.

3. Development over the Life Span.

From Conception through the First Year. Cognitive Development. Moral Development. Gender Development. Adolescence. Adulthood. Are Adults Prisoners of Childhood?

II. YOUR BRAIN.

4. Neurons, Hormones, and the Brain.

The Nervous System: A Basic Blueprint. Communication in the Nervous System. Mapping the Brain. A Tour Through the Brain. The Two Hemispheres of the Brain. Two Stubborn Issues in Brain Research.

5. Consciousness: Body Rhythms and Mental States.

Biological Rhythms: The Tides of Experience. The Rhythms of Sleep. Exploring the Dream World. The Riddle of Hypnosis. Consciousness-Altering Drugs.

Through lively writing and stimulating examples, the text invites students to actively explore the field of psychology and the fundamentals of critical and scientific thinking. Invitation to Psychology presents the science of psychology according to six areas of the student's experience: Your Self, Your Body, Your Mind, Your Environment, Your Mental Health and Your Life. This unique organization engages students from the very beginning and gives them a framework for thinking about human behavior. Incorporating many of the active learning and critical thinking features from their best-selling comprehensive text --a balance of classic and contemporary research, and thorough integration of the psychology of women and men of all cultures--students will learn much to take with them.

Table of Contents

To the Instructor. To the Student. About the Authors. 1. What Is Psychology?

The Science of Psychology. What Psychologists Do. Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology. Descriptive Studies: Establishing the Facts. Correlational Studies: Looking for Relationships. The Experiment: Hunting for Causes. Evaluating the Findings.

I. YOUR SELF.

2. Theories of Personality.

Psychodynamic Theories of Personality. The Modern Study of Personality. Genetic Influences on Personality. Environmental Influences on Personality. Cultural Influences on Personality. The Inner Experience.

3. Development over the Life Span.

From Conception through the First Year. Cognitive Development. Moral Development. Gender Development. Adolescence. Adulthood. Are Adults Prisoners of Childhood?

II. YOUR BRAIN.

4. Neurons, Hormones, and the Brain.

The Nervous System: A Basic Blueprint. Communication in the Nervous System. Mapping the Brain. A Tour Through the Brain. The Two Hemispheres of the Brain. Two Stubborn Issues in Brain Research.

5. Consciousness: Body Rhythms and Mental States.

Biological Rhythms: The Tides of Experience. The Rhythms of Sleep. Exploring the Dream World. The Riddle of Hypnosis. Consciousness-Altering Drugs.